What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?
"What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?" (promotionally known as ''SpongeBob's WhoBob WhatPants?) is a ''SpongeBob SquarePants episode from season five. In this episode, SpongeBob develops amnesia and goes missing. Synopsis SpongeBob wakes up on a normal day, as usual. He looks out his window and sees the mailman riding by on his bike. He says "Hi" to the mailman. This greeting causes the mailman to get distracted, and a truck crashes into him. After that, SpongeBob wants to spend time with his friends; however, he ends up upsetting them: he accidentally breaks Gary's shell, crushes Patrick's cake, disturbs Squidward's beauty sleep, destroys Sandy's robot, and deep fries Mr. Krabs' money, and himself. A devastated SpongeBob decides to leave Bikini Bottom, believing all his friends hate him, and cruelly call him "idiot boy." As he leaves, he is scared by mysterious figures in the shadows. While he runs from the creatures, he falls off a cliff and bumps his head, and he gets a lump, and then his bundle hits him on the head, knocking him unconscious. Back in Bikini Bottom, Patrick is knocking on SpongeBob's door, wanting to borrow some sauce for his milkshake. He is approached by Sandy, who is wondering where SpongeBob is, having presumably come to apologize. The two enter the house, where they find a huge, overweight Gary and a note from SpongeBob, explaining that he has run away since he has caused everyone trouble which made both Patrick and Sandy feel guilty. Meanwhile, SpongeBob wakes up with amnesia and finds a couple of fish, who thought he was taking a "dirt nap," as they take advantage of his amnesia so they can steal his possessions and give him a new name, "CheeseHead BrownPants." All SpongeBob has left is a bottle of bubble soap which causes the couple to run off for some reason. After the couple left, SpongeBob wonder what got into them then notices a city nearby. At Bikini Bottom everything is in chaos, especially the Krusty Krab due to SpongeBob not being there to give Krabby Patties. Mr. Krabs asks Squidward where SpongeBob is as he is freaking out that there is no Krabby Patties being made then they both get into an argument, after Squidward insulted Mr. Krabs. Then Mr. Krabs and Squidward are approach by Patrick and Sandy then ask if they seen SpongeBob which they told that they have not seen him. Sandy shows the note SpongeBob left while informing Mr. Krabs and Squidward that he has left town due to causing trouble and he is not coming back. Mr. Krabs takes the note SpongeBob left from Sandy then reads it. After reading the note, Mr. Krabs sees that SpongeBob wrote it then panics that his friend and fry cook is gone. Patrick and Sandy burst into tears out of regrets for pushing SpongeBob away, with the obvious exception of Squidward, who is delighted and remorselessly laughs in joy. Mr. Krabs closes the Krusty Krab until the group can find SpongeBob and bring him back to Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob wonders into New Kelp City, name of the city he saw nearby before, where he attempts to get a job. Each time he gets a job he uses his bubble blowing ability to help him, though, like the couple he encountered, this strikes fear into all the residents of the city, all resulting in him being fired. Back in Bikini Bottom, Mr. Krabs is hoping for the return of SpongeBob so he can prepare his station, while Patrick and Sandy want their friend back. Sandy has invented a Sponge-Tracker device to help them track SpongeBob, but Squidward, not wanting SpongeBob to come back, purposefully destroys the device with a hammer, claiming he dropped it, but nobody buys his blatant lie. Furious, Mr. Krabs demands Squidward to find SpongeBob, but Squidward still refuses, even being unfazed when Mr. Krabs threatens to fire him. Then Mr. Krabs comes up with the perfect method to get Squidward to cooperate with the search for SpongeBob. With some quick and clever thinking, he offers Squidward a jeweled Fabergé egg which the latter notes will complete his collection. However, Mr. Krabs tells him that if he wants it, he'll have to bring SpongeBob back to Bikini Bottom. This offer finally convinces Squidward to help with the search party, and he chooses his love of art over his hatred of SpongeBob. In New Kelp City, SpongeBob bubble blowing activities attracts the attention of The Bubble Poppin' Boys, a menacing street gang who have scared the city into never blowing bubbles ever again since the bubbles burn their eyes. They decide to show him what they do to rule breakers by beating up a scared SpongeBob, who quickly runs off as the gang chases him until he is cornered. SpongeBob then uses his bubble blowing ability to trap them in a large bubble and gets rid of the gang sending them out the city, which frees the town of their reign. As a result, SpongeBob is rewarded the position of mayor of New Kelp City by its previous owner who immediately retires. While searching for SpongeBob, Patrick, Sandy, and Squidward stopped at a gas station. The trio are shocked to see a newspaper stand showing news of SpongeBob's position as mayor of New Kelp City. With this, they go to New Kelp City to retrieve him just as he is giving a speech. After his speech, SpongeBob hears Sandy with a blow horn as she tells them that Bikini Bottom needs him back but he doesn't know who she is or the town she is talking about, due to his amnesia. Sandy goes up on stage then apologies for lashing out at him before. Seeing Sandy, SpongeBob became surprised to see her. At first, Sandy thought her friend was surprise that she found him but became shocked that he doesn't recognize her when he mistaken her for a Wessel, which he was surprised about. Sandy thought SpongeBob was pretending that he doesn't remember her but he does apologizes for not remembering her and commented that he would probably remember her, although he still thought she was Wessel, then Patrick comes up on stage then shows him a half of a friendship tattoo he has while he has the other half. However, SpongeBob became confused as to how he got that then told Sandy and Patrick about what he remembered as he told them how he hit his head, blew some bubbles and now that he's mayor. Hearing SpongeBob expiation and realizing that he was telling the truth about not knowing who they are, Sandy theorizes that her friend must have lost his memory when he hit his head. Wanting to bring her friend home and to help him get his memory back, Sandy asks SpongeBob to come back with them to Bikini Bottom as she explains to him that coming back home might bring his memory right back but he refuses. When SpongeBob gets into a limo to attend a meeting, Squidward manages to hijack it allowing them to take SpongeBob and return him to Bikini Bottom. They take SpongeBob back to the Krusty Krab but he still couldn't recall anything. At first, Mr. Krabs thought he was joking about not remembering the eatery then gave him his spatula but realize that he's not when he became surprised that he was a fry cook before. Mr. Krabs told SpongeBob that he's the best in his business then asked him to get flipping. However, SpongeBob nicely told them that he would like to but he wants to return to NKC and run as mayor. Squidward, who doesn't care if SpongeBob stays or not, demands the Fabergé egg from Mr. Krabs since he brought him back, on a technicality. Mr. Krabs sadly agrees and reluctantly hands Squidward the jeweled egg. As Squidward marvels on his new jeweled egg, he slips on the greasy spatula that SpongeBob put on the floor, causing the egg to fly out of his hands. The egg hits SpongeBob on the head, shattering it--but the impact gives him his memory back. Overjoyed that their friend is back to normal, Mr. Krabs apologizes SpongeBob how they all are for running him out of town. But even so, SpongeBob still wants to return to his position as mayor, because he feels bubble blowing needs to be commonplace in New Kelp City society. Everyone is distraught that SpongeBob would leave again, except Squidward who is delighted at this to replace the loss of his Fabergé egg. At that moment, a news report comes on the TV saying that the bubbles in New Kelp City are causing mayhem. A thug then threatens him. Upon hearing this, SpongeBob has second thoughts about going back to NKC and decides to remain in Bikini Bottom. A dismayed Squidward opens his head and throws his brain in a trash bin. Production Deleted Scenes The following completed scenes can be found on the un-cut storyboard on the SpongeBob's WhoBob WhatPants? DVD * After Patrick says "Just a cake for my mom that I spent all day making, as he walks back into his rock, He turns around and looks back at SpongeBob and says "I'm gonna go back and make a 2nd birthday cake that my mother will like!" * AAfter Sandy's robot breaks, Sandy shows SpongeBob its broken head. * ADuring the scene when the creepy people are scaring SpongeBob, a Scallop is shown crowing After SpongeBob says "Ooh, boy! That's quite a lump!" Then he says "I better not hit my head again. That might cause a concussion." * AAfter all the people run away from the bubble SpongeBob blew, he says "What could possibly be wrong with practicing the bubble arts? Seems like a harmless activity." * ADuring SpongeBob's speech, he says "I can't say that I blame you." Reception What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?" attracted 7.70 million viewers upon premiere. This ranked the program the number one most viewed entertainment show of the night, and the number two most viewed show in all categories after ESPN Monday Night Football. Despite this, the episode received generally mixed-to-negative reviews. Many critics cite this episode as evidence of the show's decline in quality after The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. Trivia *It's revealed that Bikini Bottom's population is 538. **However later in "The Good Krabby Name" it's revealed that the population is now 600, meaning it either increased or decreased. *This episode is based off the book For the Love of Bubbles!. Category:SpongeBob SquarePants episodes Category:SpongeBob SquarePants specials